Device for use in quenching annular articles



May a, 1924; 1,492,568

M. T. LOTHROP DEVICE FOR USE IN QUENCHING ANNULAR ARTICLES Original Filed March 22, 1920 INVENTOR BY f A A TTORNE y Fatented May 6, 1924;.

n arr MARCUS T. LOTHROP, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING COMPANY, OF CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

DEVICE FOR USE IN QUENCHING ANNULAR ARTICLES.

Original application filed. March 22, 1920, Serial No. 367,897. Divided and. this application filed December 18, 1922. Serial No. 607,553.

To all 00720722. it may] concern.

Be it known that I, MARCUS T. Lornnor,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Device for Use in Quenching Annular Articles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for sizing and quenching annular articles such as cups and cones for roller bearings and the like. its principal object is to eliminate or minimize the tendency of such annular articles to distort during the operation of quenching in the process of hardening. The invention consists principally in a plug or block of circular cross-section which is provided with longitudinally disposed ribs that are adapted to fit the inner surface of the article to be quenched and which ribs are inclined with relation to planes that pass through the axis of the plug and through said ribs respectively.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification and wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a quenching plug conforming to my invention with a portion of an apparatus in which it is mounted shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an end view of said quenching plug.

In the manufacture of cups for roller bearings, the common practice has been to make, by any suitable process, a green cup of approximately the size and shape required for the finished article, and to harden the inner or bearing surface thereof by suitable heat treatment and quenching. Heretofore the heating and quenching operations have been liable to involve more or less distortion and entail the expense of a finishing operation such as grinding. According to the 45 present invention, the heat treated cup, while still hot, is subjected to the action of a ribbed quenching plug hereinafter described, which it encircles during the operation of quenching so as to shrink against the ribs thereof.

In the design of quenching plug illustrated in the drawing, the operative portion of the plug A is frusto-conicaland of the proper size and taper for co-operation with the inner or bearing surface of the cup with which it is to be used. This tapered or conical portion comprises a series of longitudinally disposed ribs 1 alternating with grooves or flutes 2, the outer surface of the ribs being concentric with the aXis of the plug. In addition to being disposed longitudinally of the axis of the plug and disposed conically about said axis, the said ribs are inclined or oblique with relation to the planes that pass through the axis of the plug and through the respective ribs.

In practice, the hot cup is centered on the quenching plug and the quenching liquid applied thereto. During this quenching operation, the cup shrinks against the ribs, which, by reason of their multiplicity and disposition, support the cup at such close intervals and for such great extent that the tendency to distort is greatly minimized.

This application is a division of my application filed March 22, 1920, Serial No. 367,897.

What I claim is:

1. A device for use in quenching annular metal bodies consisting of a block having longitudinally disposed ribs adapted to fit the inner surface of the body and inclined with relation to axial planes passing through them respectively.

2. A device for use in quenching cups for conical roller bearings consisting of a tapered block having longitudinally disposed ribs adapted to fit the inner surface of the cup and inclined with relation to axial planes passing through them respectively.

Signed at Canton, Ohio, this 14th day of December, 1922.

MARCUS T. LOTHROP. 

